Aside from the class, I’ve started sparring a little afterwards. I’m completely starting from scratch so there is just so very much to remember. Elbows in, hands up, bob and weave, keep your opponent guessing, DON’T KICK IN THE KIDNEYS! *sigh*. One day it’ll all make sense to me.  In the mean time, I’ll keep looking like a fool and sweating to the oldies haha!

More sweetness in my life, I have picked up over 30 pounds of pears the last few days. One tree is enough to provide an entire village their stock of fruit for a year. It is pretty insane. So my mother and I have been canning what we want and then begging for people we know to take a bucket full… or two!

Here are a few images from our afternoon of canning:

I’m actually having fun with all these different ideas for the pears. I’m working on a salad dressing right now. That’s right… you heard me.

On to week 7!

Seriously. I do not fear dying at a young age or health problems that might be passed on to me. My family is incredibly healthy. We are mothers, daughters, aunts, sisters and among all those things… fighters. Almost every woman in my family has lived to be almost 100 years old. That alone is why I do not fear missing my life. I know that I’m just as stubborn and hard headed as the rest of the women that raised me and I’ll be here until the end. And that’s decades away.

Recently, one of the most amazing women I’ve known celebrated her 90th birthday. My Nana has seen the changing of the times. Born in the 20′s she has watched the inventions of radios turn into televisions we watch today. Worked farming fields, canned her own food and has lived through depressions and the fears that wars bring. As a young school teacher she raised three children of her own, two girls and a boy. She has had friends come into her life and leave for all different reasons. Her one constant has been her family. From start to finish we will forever be standing beside her to hold her hand.

Here are a few images from my Nana’s special, surprise birthday party:

Nana has absolutely no idea that her family was so sneaky! Here she is arriving with my Uncle and Mother on the left and my Aunt on the right.

She is greeted by her younger sister who came down from Virginia for the occasion!

Decades of family and friends joined us for the celebration. Young and old we were all there!

This is my brother, Andy and his girlfriend Carmen.

Yeah, that’s me and my baby brother. We’re always like that.

My brother Jimmy, Sister Michelle, me, and Andy. This is one of the more calm pictures we took

Nana with my cousin’s Wife, Toni and Nana’s great grand baby Colt.

This picture of my Nana is one of my most favorites ever. The calm expression she wears on her face is so angelic to me. Whatever place she was in at that point in her life was obviously peaceful.

Nana, I love you. You’re one of the most amazing women in the world to me and I am so proud to say I am part of your family. Your strength and durability provides hope for me that I too will live a long life and see great things that I will be able to tell my great grand children about.

I will forever remember your laughter and beautiful smile. Happy Birthday!

You can see the rest of her images here.

]]> http://memoriestolast.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1994 0 http://memoriestolast.com/blog/?p=1938 http://memoriestolast.com/blog/?p=1938#comments Thu, 19 Aug 2010 02:04:13 +0000 khristen http://memoriestolast.com/blog/?p=1938 WEEK 5!

Cardio… YAY… Uh..yeah… right…

Really, week 5 hasn’t started out so bad. The difference between the coming four weeks and the last four is that we are doing extremely heavy cardio. Constantly moving and shaking what our momma’s gave us. It’s high impact heart conditioning and it’s tough to breathe. We get 15 second breaks to grab our water sip it and get back to work, but I love it! I’m having so much fun!

Each week we learn new technique. This week is the ridgehand. It’s a tucked thumb and quick motion of the arm, bringing the hand from behind you to the targets temple, throat, leg, groin… yeah it’s a blast LOL.

As I promised, I’m posting progression pictures. I finally stepped on the scale and I’ve lost around 18 pounds as of today! That’s three dress sizes and alot of unhappiness!

I am so glad to see all my hard work paying off! This skirt literally falls off my hips now! The only bad part is… I’ll have to buy more clothes! And btw….don’t pay attention to my hair. It was a seriously long day at work!

Tomorrow is going to be a doozy, class #2 of week 5! Here’s hoping I can hand in there!

Cheers!

Amber, you’re so funny

Yummy homemade cupcakes with fresh raspberries on top!

My Aunt Livia, Nana and my Mother….right after my Nana tells my mother in no uncertain terms to “Shut up!” as Mom steals Nana’s game piece, lol! Those crazy ladies!

Chocolate cake anyone?

And of course… it rains during the shower. At least every one was inside and partying hard before the storm hit!

Briley’s first bible.

Amber, you’re amazing. It seems like just yesterday you were running around in diapers with a red kool-aid mustache. I love you and can’t wait to meet your little man!

You can view the rest of her images by clicking here.

Happy Wednesday All!

Cheers!

Class last week was amazing. It was our last week of overall conditioning. Week 5 is heavy cardio and that when we’ll see the most weight loss. We’ll be adding new exercises as well as learning new techniques.

The above image is my lunch from one day last week. I ordered a pound of crab legs in light Old Bay seasoning. I may not eat fish, but I love seafood. I ate them with a few raw veggies and of course…. my water. I’ve been pretty religious about drinking my 64 ounces of water which has played a key part in my weight loss.

I’ll be taking the weekend of and hopefully coming back strong and ready to hit the ground running next week to start one of our most difficult weeks yet!

For some reason, it seemed like October and November were colder back then. I know they were. I remember wearing, or rather being commanded to wear at least a light weight jacket to go outside. Even though I would promptly take it off as soon as the cool air hit me and I was out of my mother’s sight. One would think that critters would be more scarce in the cooler months of the year. This was not the case at my grandmother’s. There was always something to chase or catch and always trouble to be found. This is how I came upon persimmons.

The house sat closer to the road. It’s white washed boards aging but still standing against the odds. Bushes and shrubbery of all sizes gathered at its base. The front porch was littered with potted plants and stray leaves that had fallen from the pecan trees that surrounded the house. I spent many hours on the porch swing watching the rain storms come in off the fields in the distance and leave as quickly as they came. It was on those painted blue, concrete steps that I built my first rabbit trap with my cousin. My mother always worried I would fall down those slippery steps and break my neck. It never happened.

One particular fall day, there was a blustery breeze that came through pushing leaves from the porch and replacing them with new ones. The sky was scattered with heavy rain clouds and the sun never peaked. It was one of those fall days that most people spend inside. Not me however. I headed right out that rickety screen door and into the grayed world outside. I wandered around the old barns and grape vines that had been scavenged a month before. The only thing left was the vines themselves and a few golden yellow leaves that were browning at the edges.

On the backside of the house stood what we called the well house. It was small and covered with screen. It held a well with concrete sides and a large and very heavy cover. When my mother was a child she recollects pulling water from this well which still holds water today. I will never know what it was about that well house, but I never went inside. You could see straight into it. Every empty mason jar on the shelf, the old tools in the wooden tool box that sat upon the well cover and the baskets that laid next to it. But I never set foot inside it. I never even tried.

Between that well house and the road was a number of trees, shrubs, and flowers. Nothing out of the ordinary for this place.  A winding path led between the main house and the well house that brought you back to the front porch. I will never know what made me stop and examine the back side of the well house. Maybe it was the camellias, maybe it was the great magnolia tree leaves that scattered the ground and crunched under my feet, but I found them. Hidden by the far fence row stood a medium sized tree. It was nothing exciting and kind of resembled a dogwood tree except for these magnificent looking, orange balls of fruit that hung daintily from its branches. I had no idea what they were. Me, being the daring soul that I am grabbed one up and just took a bite. It was terrible! I immediately spit it out and took off running back inside, orange ball of yuck in my hand. Now for all you parents out there- you know kids do this often. Run in and drop something for you to make a face at and inevitably clean up. I had not yet thought about parenthood or the possibility thereof, so I did what all kids do. “Mom, what is this? It’s gross!” BLOP! I dropped it right on the kitchen table. My mother being used to my antics as she was. Made a small grin and proceeded to tell me about persimmons and asked where I had found this one. Of course, that was right after she scolded me for eating it without washing it first. She had completely forgotten that the tree had been there at all. We trampled back over the fallen leaves and occasional weed and I took my mother to see this tree. She was shocked that it was still standing. We picked the persimmons we could carry and took them back inside. There again, I tried to eat a few slices of persimmon and it just wasn’t something I had a taste for.

Many years later, after my sweet grandmother passed away and my family’s farm was sold, I just randomly found these little miracles of flavor again on isle at a local farmers market. I bought a few, mainly for nostalgia since I remembered them tasting bitter. Back at my home, when slicing through their fleshy skin I realized that so much time had passed since I had first tried one of these. So much had changed. This time they were sweeter. This time I liked them. Maybe it was that my taste buds grew up as I did. Maybe it was the farmer that grew them knew what he was doing and took extra care of his crop. Or maybe, just maybe, it was the places that those persimmons take me and the memories that flood my mind with every bite. The lines of pecan trees, the tall porch columns, concrete steps and summers spent in a childhood heaven. Or maybe it was the feeling of having my loving family back home to teach me about fruits you wash before you eat.

I pushed myself super hard tonight. I normally don’t make it through longer rounds of jump rope, but I think the combination of exercises that our instructor chose for each station helped tremendously. I was able to actually do 32 push-ups tonight without my wrist hurting. That’s a very great improvement for me.

The next few weeks will be very trying. Cardio will be increased and this is when I should see the most weight loss and toning. That compared with the gym time I’m getting in should keep me pretty worn out and tired, haha.

Here are a few of the fruits we have at my home. The first is a Persimmon. They are an acquired taste really. When ripe they turn a pretty orange color and will be soft skinned. The inside is fleshy kinda of like a plum/pumpkin mixture with a cinnamon and nutmeg taste. They aren’t for everyone, but I love them. Hopefully, I’ll get a few this year if the deer hold out. I just planted this tree a few months ago so this is our first crop.

(Pictures compliments of my Droid)

These are green pears. We have one tree that is LOADED with them. It’s a lawn mowing nightmare really. They aren’t as big as they have been in the past years. I’m not sure if it’s because of the heat this year or more rain than we normally see. I typically pick buckets of these things every year and enjoy them as whole fruit snacks or we make tarts, jams and yummy (not-so healthy) treats!

We’ll see what the rest of this week has in store for us! I’m not sure how much time I’ll be putting in at the gym over the next few weeks!

Cheers!

Here’s the back story…
My son, Ethan loves to jump. On EVERYTHING! So to save my couch cushions I decided to purchase one of the small trampolines for him so that he could get out some of that energy. Even on rainy days and those humid southern days we have 345 days a year, he would have something to jump on- and NOT my couches. Great idea huh?

Now, I’m not completely sure just what I expected. When the trampoline arrived it was in a tiny box. I just knew they sent me the wrong item. I get the package home and open it up.

Oh my, at the pieces! There were four pieces of metal that were connected by the center “bouncy” part of the device. These pieces have to be connected to form two half moons then again to form the complete circle. You toss the legs on, wrap the cover over the top and WHAM! You’re jumping before you know it.

(pictures and video compliments of the Droid)

But its not quite as easy as it sounds. I got the half moons down. They were easy. When it came to putting the entire thing together… well… that was the fun part. There was a time when I had feet in the air and my head on the ground. Literally. It was the most embarrassing thing. I finally had to have someone stand on the end and help me put enough weight on it to get the final pieces together.

Here’s a short video of Ethan’s first jump! He’s a fan. And he’s talking about his Meme getting him grapes. He still has trouble saying grapes so he calls them balls. (At least he knows his shapes, lol)

I guess maybe I thought they would send it already put together. Maybe in a big circular box? Hey, just to let them know… it was not a one person job!

Cheers!

Week three of the Gladiator Challenge was just that… a challenge. I was mentally drained so that made physical work that much more tough. I made it through. I forced myself to be in class and at least attempt each and every exercise.

(Picture compliments of my Droid)

Every night, even after class I’m hitting the gym for some time to decompress by myself. I normally hit the elliptical for 30 minutes and then do a few sets on weights. This gives me time by myself or should I say, as alone as I can be in a gym environment. I play MY music, I work at my pace and I’m in no competition with anyone but myself. Alone with my thoughts.

On the progress front, I’m down another dress size. Two more and I’ll be right where I was before I had my son. That was almost three years ago for those of you trying to catch up, lol. I have yet to this day taken my measurements or my weight. So I can’t report how much I’ve lost. I just know its a lot, and I feel so much more amazing.

So, starting the week off right, I’m catching up for last week and I’ll be updating more frequently.

Happy Monday everyone!

Cheers!

I never took a public speaking class. In school I was actually pretty shy except when it came to barking orders to my flight members. If you remember in a previous post I mentioned being a part of R.O.T.C. in high school. You were tested in this class. You had to push to shine above the rest. I’m not sure how much shining I did, but I made sure I was heard when I gave a command. Preforming in front of all those people really helped me get over my shyness. This however, did not cure the fact that I was afraid of meeting people outside my circle. This kept me from doing simple things like applying for jobs and returning unwanted items to stores. I know, I know! Simple everyday things, that just the thought of, made me sick to my stomach!

Today, I am no longer that person. I stopped trying to make everyone else happy and worrying about what other people will think. Today, I am a strong, independent woman!

I’m just not the kind of person that wonders what people think. I am who I am. This enables me to pass by strangers and throw up a smile and a quick “Hello”. It is my personal belief that just by doing this one simple thing I may have brightened some one’s day. So when you’re worried about speaking to someone or scared to talk in front of a group of individuals…. just breathe. Throw a smile on your face and remember that even if you stutter, or roll over the wrong word…. they may laugh at you, but as long as you can laugh at yourself….Then they’ll never be laughing at you!

Cheers!